(June 25)On Friday Greg Abbott the governor of Texas announced that he will be sending another 1,000 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border. Abbott accused the US government of not taking action on the increasing humanitarian crisis at the border.
How the new Guard members will be used
At a press conference with Republican leaders as well as Major General Tracy Norris, Abbott said that the Guards would assist at new detention facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso, as well as ports of entry. The total number of National Guard members is now at over 2,000 according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. There are also 1,400 active duty soldiers who are at the border according to a spokesperson for the Army.
There is a severe staff shortage at the border and poor conditions for migrants
Abbott was quite critical of the Federal government saying: "My message to them is Congress is a group of reprobates for not addressing a crisis on our border and we're not going to stand idly by and endanger the lives and safety of the state of Texas because Congress is refusing to do its job."
Patrick Shanahan, Acting Defense Secretary, admitted that Homeland Security officials are thousands of people short of what they need at the border. Abbott said the federal government would fully fund the additional National Guards sent to the border. House Democrats released a $4.5 billion measure just as Abbot made his announcement.
A recent article notes: "The Republican leaders scolded Congress over reports that a Texas border facility is neglecting migrant children. Doctors and attorneys said hundreds of young people are living under inhumane conditions at a border control station in Clint, Texas. They said they found about 250 infants, children and teens locked up for weeks without adequate food, water and sanitation."
Texas Democrats were critical of the new deployment of National Guard calling it reckless, not necessary, and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Texas Senate Democratic leader Jose Rodriguez said: "Deploying more National Guard to the border is a fool's errand and a waste of millions of taxpayer dollars... This latest action will not help to alleviate the humanitarian crisis at our southern border."
Texas has been using National Guard at the border since way back in 2014 when then-Governor Rick Perry first deployed 1,000 members. Texas has spent billions on border security over the last decade. This has included assigning more state troopers to the southern border region.
Regular active duty troops are limited by law as to what they can do at the border
Donald Trump sent more than 5,200 active duty troops to the border with Mexico, but they are limited in what they can do as federal law prohibits them from law enforcement on US territory.
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